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The need for a high-quality workforce to meet increased competition in the world economy has increased the need for competent vocational administrators in public 2-year postsecondary institutions. Researchers have agreed that vocational education is in a state of metamorphosis and must change to meet its challenges in the coming century. At the same time, more women are seeking and obtaining vocational administrative positions. Several studies have been done to identify the competencies needed by vocational administrators to perform their duties, but there has been little research on the actual ability to perform the administrative tasks identified by these studies. Two main purposes of this study are: (a) to determine the perceived level of administrative competencies possessed by women administrators in vocational education at the community college level in Texas; (b) to determine the adequacy of the preservice training received by these administrators to perform their administrative functions. Of the 175 women administrators randomly selected to participate in the study, 71% completed the Administrator Task Inventory. In addition to the descriptive statistics, two multiple regression analyses were tested. First, principal component analysis was used to reduce the number of dependent variables from 11 to 2, after which two multiple regression analyses were used to test the relationship between the two component scores identified as management-skills factors and educational-skills factors and the four independent variables of level of education, number of years of teaching vocational subject, number of years of vocational administrative experience, and level of vocational professional organization involvement. The results indicate that the women administrators possess the competencies needed to perform their tasks, but one fourth of the administrators need better preservice and/or inservice training on at least 7 of 11 competency categories studied. The results also show that a negative relationship exists between the number of years of teaching vocational subjects and management-skills competencies.

The problem with which this investigation is concerned is that of determining the existing and ideal perceived roles of college financial aid directors in Texas, the preparation of financial aid directors, the scope of their work, status, degree of job satisfaction, and attitudes toward selected financial aid concepts. A self-report questionnaire, which had been validated by a selected panel of financial aid directors, and for which reliability had been established by the test re-test method, provided the necessary data for the research report. Replies were received from more than seventy-five per cent of the financial aid directors in the colleges of Texas. Chapter I, Introduction, includes the subject of the study, purposes, research questions, background and significance, definition of terms, basic assumptions, instruments, and procedures for analysis of data. Chapter II is the review of related research. Chapter III gives procedures for collection and treatment of data. Chapter IV contains the report of the responses to the questionnaire, and Chapter V contains a summary of the findings, the conclusions reached, recommendations, and implications for further study.

The study of leadership in education, business, industry, government, and other organizations has evolved over time. Early studies focused on leadership traits and behavior. Currently, researchers and theorists have concentrated on the interaction of leadership styles and situations. The primary purpose of this study was to determine the predominant leadership style of a group of senior administrators of public universities in Texas.

The primary problem with which this investigation is concerned was the assessment of the perceptions of lower-level administrators as to leadership styles they see to be in effect in their respective colleges and universities in Texas. The purposes of this investigation were to 1) identify the administrative leadership styles in effect, 2) determine the prevailing leadership styles among presidents and lower-level officers, 3) test the assumption that lower-level officers select leadership styles similar to those styles perceived to be descriptive of chief officers and other administrators, 4) determine if the type of institution (public/ private) is a factor in the choice of leadership styles, 5) determine if institutional size is a factor in the choice of leadership styles, 6) ascertain if age is a factor in the choice of leadership styles, 7) determine if educational level is a factor in the choice of leadership styles, 8) determine if institutional level is a factor in the choice of leadership styles, 9) ascertain if tenure in an administrative position is a factor in the choice of leadership styles, 10) determine if administrative position is a factor in the choice of leadership styles. Analysis of the findings revealed the most popular styles of leadership were democratic, pragmatic-functional, and organismic. The prevailing style of leadership of the chief officer was democratic. Lower-level officers tend to select leadership styles similar to those styles they perceived to describe chief officers. The following characteristics of the institution or administrators were not significant factors in selecting leadership styles: public/ private colleges, institutional size, and position of the administrator, educational level of the institution, and years in an administrative position. The age and education of the administrator were significantly related to leadership styles. The administrators, for the most part, were educated in academic disciplines that were not management related.

Recent studies reveal that a considerable number of U.S. community college leaders will be retiring in the next several years. The concern is that with the large turnover, history, culture, and important lessons of leadership will be lost. The current research on the lives of presidents, their career paths, and experiences in community college leadership centers on approaches to the study of leadership at the macro level. Limited research exists in the published literature that reports and analyzes the development of individuals as community college leaders at the micro level. This results in a gap regarding understanding leadership development and strategies to prepare leaders. This study addresses this gap by providing a critical description of the leadership development of one individual who became a community college chancellor and who the literature on the community context indicates contributed to the local and national context for community colleges. Biography is gaining prominence as a legitimate and viable tool in the study of leadership. Few biographical studies currently exist which focus on leadership development in context at the micro level. This dissertation is a biographical, qualitative study of the leadership path and legacy of R. Jan LeCroy, a community college leader. The study combined two viable approaches to biographical inquiry: a scholarly chronicle and the realist approach. Data included the use of primary and secondary sources and included interviews, document analysis, and archival data such as newspaper articles, memos, and minutes of meetings. The data were analyzed and the findings discussed using the theoretical framework of Gronn's (1993) career model of leadership, Vaughan's (1986) study of the career paths of presidents, and Sullivan's (2001) study of four distinct generations of community college leaders. The leadership path of R. Jan LeCroy paralleled the four stages in Gronn's (1993) career model of leadership; he shared characteristics of the presidents surveyed in Vaughan's (1986) study; and he fit the profile of the second generation of community college leaders as described by Sullivan (2001).

The problem of this study concerns the role and functions of diversity affairs centers' chief personnel officers at public universities in Texas. Because of the political and evolving nature of diversity affairs offices, it is important to understand the functions and types of services these centers provide with respect to institutional goals, missions, and student retention at public universities in Texas.

The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship, if any, between the socioeconomic backgrounds of educators and their attitudes toward women as academic administrators, including a comparison of the attitudes of male and female educators toward women as administrators. The population consisted of all full time faculty and administrators in 25 colleges and universities holding membership in the Association for Higher Education (AHE) of North Texas during the 1984/1S85 academic year. This group of institutions consists of 10 community/junior colleges and 15 senior colleges and universities. Data generation was achieved through the administration of a research package mailed to a sample of 300 subjects selected by a proportionate random process from the defined population. The instruments consisted of a modified version of the Women As Managers Scale (WAMS) and the Hollingshead Factor Index of Social Status. Useable data from 209 respondents were subjected to multiple regression techniques. The hypothesis that socioeconomic background of educators will be positively related to attitudes toward women as academic administrators was not upheld. It was however determined that attitudes toward women as administrators are explanable by a combination of job and non-job related variables, with women having more positive attitudes than men. The findings that 1) younger subjects have more positive attitudes, 2) experience under a female superordinate, generated favorable comments, and 3) educators as a whole had a highly favorable attitude lead to the conclusion that opportunities for advancement of women into adminstrative positions are brighter than often reported. It is suspected that the legislative activities and the feminist movement of the 1960s may have had a positive influence.

A study was conducted to gather information from department chairs serving in the 26 two-year colleges that are members of the North Texas Community College Consortium using the International Community College Chair Survey (ICCCS). The ICCCS is designed to gather insights into four aspects of the chairs' professional lives: personal characteristics, responsibilities challenges, and strategies. The study compared the demographic data and the respondents' perceptions of the challenges their units will face in the next 5 years to the original survey conducted in 1992. The regional sample included 616 first-line administrators, and a 30.5% response rate was achieved. The demographic distribution of the regional respondents shows significant shifts in gender, age, education, experience and release time but constancy in race and stability of the population. Similarities between the two samples exist regarding the challenges of maintaining program quality, providing technology, and managing financial issues. The regional sample expresses greater concern about the challenges of distance education, external accountability, and student matters.